Heavens on Earth

A scientific exploration into humanity’s obsession with the afterlife and quest for immortality from the bestselling author and skeptic Michael Shermer

In his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans’ belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality along with utopian attempts to create heaven on earth.

For millennia, religions have concocted numerous manifestations of heaven and the afterlife, and though no one has ever returned from such a place to report what it is really like—or that it even exists—today science and technology are being used to try to make it happen in our lifetime. From radical life extension to cryonic suspension to mind uploading, Shermer considers how realistic these attempts are from a proper skeptical perspective.

Heavens on Earth concludes with an uplifting paean to purpose and progress and how we can live well in the here-and-now, whether or not there is a hereafter.

O explorare stiintifica a obsesiei umanitatii fata de viata de apoi si cautarea nemuririi de la autorul si scepticul cel mai bine vandut Michael Shermer In cea mai ambitioasa lucrare a sa, Shermer isi propune sa descopere ceea ce determina credinta oamenilor in viata de dupa moarte, concentrandu-se pe incercarile stiintifice recente de a realiza nemurirea impreuna cu incercarile utopice de a crea cerul pe pamant. De milenii, religiile au inventat numeroase manifestari ale cerului si ale vietii de apoi si, desi nimeni nu s-a intors vreodata dintr-un astfel de loc pentru a raporta cum este cu adevarat - sau ca exista chiar - astazi stiinta si tehnologia sunt folosite pentru a incerca sa se realizeze in viata noastra.